Well, we can go back forth about whether the people were wearing long sleeves or not and so on and on. I'm just saying that I noticed it.. I wasn't dreaming or making stuff up. I'm just seeing if other people have noticed the same thing.

I think that most people on this blog will agree that unless its the middle of winter, you can tell the difference between someone pumping serious iron and someone who is skinny from just riding their bicycle and walking. I don't think I'm suggesting something here which requires so much debate.

I have never been to Europe, but a lot of Europeans come to where I live and go hiking with me. I can't recall any that were ripped or had that meat-head appearance. That doesn't mean there aren't any in Europe or that I can generalize about Europeans, but it would not surprise me that fewer people over there are clamoring to look like Arnold. I would say in the US we do a lot more extreme sports than they do in many other parts of the world, except for New Zealand. I think lifting really heavy weights is considered somewhat of an extreme sport by most people.

I get what you're saying - but the one and only time I've been to the states I was actually quite shocked by the number of extremely overweight people I saw. I wasn't seeing too many healthy, muscular people on the streets.

I live in Scotland which has a terrible record for unhealthy people, but I see plenty people who look like they look after themselves. And there are always plenty of guys (mostly guys, but women too) in the gym.

Maybe it's the cooler weather - means we tend to cover up more. It's pretty hard to tell if there's muscle or blubber under a down jacket :-)

Some people have really sandy vaginas here. He's just making an observation, stop freaking out.

Canadian here, lived in France for a while, and I've noticed the same thing as the thread starter. The average French girls looked hotter because none of them were fat, yet touching them was weird because they had no muscle mass. Guys were the same. None were buff. From what I've seen, it was a combination of smoking, not eating much, and a weird relationship with fitness.

You may be equating visibly muscular with health...and that's not always true. I've hiked in Europe and I'll tell ya, many of those "scrawny" 80-90 year olds can easily beat me on the trail. You would have to look at overall health, not just what we "see."

Agree. Many people in Europe and Asia are in good health and have a normal BMI (meaning they appear thin by American standards). They don't do crazy stuff like deadliest 500lb or wacky extreme workout programs, but that doesn't mean they aren't strong and in good health.

Some people have really sandy vaginas here. He's just making an observation, stop freaking out.

Canadian here, lived in France for a while, and I've noticed the same thing as the thread starter. The average French girls looked hotter because none of them were fat, yet touching them was weird because they had no muscle mass. Guys were the same. None were buff. From what I've seen, it was a combination of smoking, not eating much, and a weird relationship with fitness.

Odd. I spent some time on the French countryside, and while I get what you're talking about I certainly don't think it was the norm there - people had decent muscle. Not because they went to the gym (there probably wasn't even one in that village) but because they actually worked out as part of their jobs. Very few had jobs that were totally stationary, and people walked to places as a general rule.

I wonder if this is something that could apply to cities, though? Or if it's just some sort of beauty ideal down in them souths.

People are strong enough and healthy and don't necessarily look ripped.

One fun thing I really liked from my visit to Barcelona was that some guys were monkeying around on the kid's playground monkey bars and doing gymnastic-related stuff.

In general, I think Europeans, even those in the older crowd, are able to walk several miles a day without getting winded or feel the need to eat to earn back energy. They can bend over with reasonable loads. I think that's a good indicator of overall health and being in decent shape.

I'm from Europe, but I lived in California for a few months. When I first arrived I had culture shock at how much more buff the men were.

I have a lot of male friends and I don't think a single one of them goes to the gym - they play sports and cycle from A to B. I think in the States you guys drive to the gym

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